Jason Howard Green

Friday, October 12, 2012

The Bodyguard Starring Heather Headley

Wow! Who knew! According to Queerty, The Bodyguard will be coming to a stage in London. The West End has transformed the remarkable movie starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner into a stage production. The theatre should premiere this project next month. As if this news wasn't exciting enough, guess who will be playing the lead as the endangered diva Rachel Marron? None other than the fantastically fabulous Grammy winning, Tony winning Heather Headley.

Heather's rise to stardom on the stage led her to originate the role of Nala in The Lion King and she would go on to star in Aida (the part for which she would her Tony). However for me, it was when she changed gears and went from the stage to the studio that I learned about Ms. Heather. Her first album, This Is Who I Am, showed the world the remarkable R&B voice this woman has. Because of instant classics like He Is, I Wish I Wasn't (In Love With You), and Four Words, Heather Headley immediately became one of my favorite soulful vocalist. And four albums later she still remains on that list.

I'm guessing the itch to return to the stage was always there. Its been said that you should go hard or go home!!! It looks like Heather has decided to go hard with this one. Heather has some big shoes to fill. Unless you've been living under a rock, then you know that the part of Rachel Marron was originally played by Whitney Houston in the film version of the Bodyguard. The movie and the song that broke all the records, I Will Always Love You, have left many thinking that this is a role and a song that should remain untouched. So the big question is, will Heather Headley be able to deliver on the stage production? I'm a huge fan of Headley so I may be a bit biased, but I'm aware of her vocal ability. The girl has some pipes. She will need them to pull off the musical numbers in this production. But as a Tony winner, we know that she has the stage prescence/ acting ability to capture the hearts of those in the audience. I'm betting she will not only delivery, she is going to knock it out of the park with this one.

I'm actually a little jealous of those Londoneers that will be able to witness this production this fall. I'd love to see how this film was translated to the stage and how Heather performs in her return to this element that she loves and does so well. To all involved The Bodyguard, Heather and cast, I say "break a leg!" To see Heather's press conference release of I Have Nothing, please go here.

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Just Me . . .

About Me

Black and gay. Geek and Greek (Phi Beta Sigma). Spirtual but not judgemental. Optimist but a realist. Writer and activist. I am the author of The ABCs of Coming Out. Also I am the founder of UGIMA (United Gay Informed Men of African-descent).